Hungarian Judge Is Dismissed

WASHINGTON — Judit Furst-Tombor of Hungary, a 25-year judging veteran who was regularly assigned to panels at the world and European championships, was dropped from the judging panel for the second women's qualifying group Wednesday at the behest of the Hungarian National Skating Federation.

The decision came a day after Furst-Tombor joined a dozen coaches, officials and former skaters in endorsing the upstart World Skating Federation and its goal of replacing the International Skating Union as the governing body of figure skating.

"As a founding member of the World Skating Federation, Ms. Furst-Tombor is acting against the ISU Constitution, which is not in line with the Hungarian National Skating Federation's policy," federation President Ferenc Batho wrote in a letter to ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta.

Furst-Tombor said she was told of the dismissal 10 minutes before the competition. "I thought about it," she said when asked if she had anticipated consequences of supporting the new federation. "But I didn't think it would come from the Hungarian federation."

Furst-Tombor, a judge at the Nagano Olympics and at last year's World Championships, said she had resigned her ISU membership. Most other WSF advocates had resigned their ISU positions or were not scheduled to judge here.